The bout served as the main event of Thursday’s Bellator 94 event, which took place at USF Sun Dome in Tampa, Fla. The evening’s main card aired on Spike TV following prelims on Bellator.com.

The two fighters traded in the pocket in the opening round, as Zayats mixed in kicks and Newton looked to load up on a big right hand. As the back-and-forth action wore one, Newton scores a pair of takedown and finished the frame in a dominant position, working for a rear-naked choke while set up on his opponent’s back.

The two continued to trade strikes on the feet in the second frame, and Zayats suffered a small cut by his right eye. Zayats seemed the quicker fighter on the feet, and he linked together combinations in the latter stages for the round. However, neither landed anything of real significance until the final seconds, when Zayats claimed the round with some late aggression and a final takedown at the bell.

With the fight seemingly in the balance heading into the third round, Newton returned to his wrestling and moved quickly into a clinch. He couldn’t score the takedown, but a stiff right hand landed shortly after and sent Zayats toppling to the floor. Newton tried to leap into a choke, but Zayats escaped, returned to his feet and looked to reverse the momentum. It wouldn’t happen, and Newton scored a late takedown to add to his claim. All three judges agreed, and Newton was awarded a unanimous-decision win, 29-28 on all three judges’ cards.

“Mikhail is tough, tough as balls,” Newton said after the win. “He brought it, caught me with a couple, cut me. He was hard to take down. Good scrambling. Good punching. I just knew if I pushed the pace, stayed in his face, he’d get tired, and I’d wear him down.”

Newton now meets champ Vegh, who he lost to in a January 2012 tournament bout, later this year.

In one of the more memorbale entrances in recent memory, David “The Caveman” Rickels (14-1 MMA, 8-1 BFC) walked into the cage with a dinosaur at his side. He walked out with Bellator’s Season 8 lightweight tournament title after scoring a thrilling, albeit somewhat controversial TKO stoppage over fellow finalist Saad Awad (14-5 MMA, 2-1 BFC).

Awad came forward quickly, keeping his hands low in defense but rifling off power shots, Rickels absorbed the attack and looked to counter, but Awad answered with a takedown and settled into top position, where he finished the round.

In the second, Awad scored a takedown early in the frame, but Rickels scrambled up and reversed courses with his own takedown. However, Awad was up to the challenge and nailed a beautiful sweep to again take top position. Rickels scrambled to his feet in the final 30 seconds, and the pair unloaded with strikes on the feet. With both fighters throwing bombs, a Rickels right hand sent Awad crashing to the floor right at the bell. Referee Troy Waugh kept a close eye on Awad, who remained on the canvas as Rickels walked to his corner. When Awad did not quickly crawl to his feet, Waugh waved off the fight.

Awad protested the decision, but Waugh stood by his call, and Rickels was awarded the TKO result.

“I really wanted to put an exclamation mark on the way I went out of this tournament,” Rickels said after the win. “I knew Saad would be the way to do that. I knew he’d kind of want to trade with me.”

With the victory, Rickels earns a future title shot with current Bellator lightweight champ Michael Chandler.

The pair wasted little time engaging at the opening bell. After a few traded shots on the feet, Houston latched the body and tossed his opponent to the floor. He didn’t keep top position long, preferring to return to his feet, where he was blasted by by an inadvertent kick to the groin. Fortunately, Houston took just a brief rest, though Melo grabbed momentum on the restart with a takedown and solid ground-and-pound attack.

Right hand to the floor. Pounced with hammerfists and then took the back for a rear-naked choke. Fortunately for Melo, his opponent did not have his hooks set, and Melo turned in and returned to his feet. Once there, Melo took charge again with a series of powerful uppercuts on the feet. After pressing the action to the floor, Melo continued an impressive assault against a tiring Houston.

With momentum in his favor heading into the final frame, Melo seized the opportunity for a finish. Working the fight to the floor, Melo moved quickly into mount position and locked in an arm-triangle choke. A firm squeeze was all that was needed to earn the tap.

The night’s first main-card matchup featured 21-year-old Rodrigo Lima (11-1 MMA, 1-1 BFC) and five-time Bellator veteran Ronnie Mann (21-6-1 MMA, 3-3 BFC) fighting in a bantamweight tournament qualifier. With Mann fighting for the first time at 135 pounds, it was Lima who walked away victorious.

Mann fought patiently to open the fight as Lima carried a higher pace on the outside, dancing around and darting in and out of range. The work paid dividends in the early going, as Lima looked to be the faster fighter and used volume to outstrike his opponent, including in a flash knockdown.

Mann pressed forward in the second and found success in brief moments, but Lima continued to rack up points with punches in bunches and rapid-fire combinations.

The fight hit the floor in the final frame, and Lima enjoyed several minutes in top position. Mann scrambled to the top in an important sweep, but Lima immediately brought his legs high and threatened with a triangle choke. Trapped in the hold, Mann was forced to accept defeat as time ran down to the final bell, and Lima was awarded a unanimous-decision win, 30-27 on all three cards.

With the win, Lima is now expected to compete in a bantamweight tournament to be held at Bellator’s upcoming Summer Series events.